Part 21

Among the many books on temperance that have been written during the last two years one of the most useful is “Leaves from the Diary of an Old Lawyer.”[F] The materials for the volume are taken directly from the author’s experience as a criminal lawyer, and consist of incidents whose details he heard in the courts or in the cells of the jails. He says: “My experience at the bar has satisfied me that intemperance is the direct cause of nearly all the crime that is committed in our country. I have been at the bar over thirty years, have been engaged on over four thousand criminal cases, and, on mature reflection I am satisfied that over three thousand of those cases have originated from drunkenness alone, and I believe that a great proportion of the remainder could be traced either directly or indirectly to this great source of crime.” With such an experience and such a conviction it is needless to add that Mr. Richmond has made a strong plea for the temperance cause.

When Messrs. Charles Scribner’s Sons announced that a new and complete edition of the writings of Donald G. Mitchell (Ik Marvel) was to be sent out from their house, the many lovers of “Reveries of a Bachelor,” and “Dream Life,” were heartily pleased. No other books in our American Literature have a charm like those two. We all feel a certain personal affection for the Bachelor whose fireside dreams and fancies are like our own, an affection which makes us turn gladly to anything he writes, and we are never disappointed in what we find. To be sure there is nothing in “Seven Stories,” or “Wet Days at Edgewood,” or “Dr. Johns,” that gives us the delight of our first favorites, but there is much of pleasant narrative and wholesome sentiment that drives away our dullness and tones up our thoughts. The new edition is very attractive, its cloth binding being “something new” in American books, and when the twelve volumes are out they will be a valuable addition to our _good_ books.

The first new volume in the new edition of Ik Marvel is a bundle of pleasant papers which are put under the apt title of “Bound Together,”[G] because, as the author says, “after considerable search I could find no more unifying title.” Pleasant reading they are, indeed, on topics which are everyday enough and interesting enough to make every reader linger over them. Among the essays is the oration on Washington Irving, delivered at the centennial celebration of Irving’s birth, held a year ago, at Tarrytown; a course of lectures on “Titian and His Times;” “Two College Talks;” “Beginnings of an Old Town,” an address delivered upon the occasion of the second centennial of the foundation of the town of Norwich, and several delightful papers grouped under the general heads of “Processions of the Months,” and “In-doors and Out-of-doors.”

There are a great many very suggestive and valuable hints in “My House.”[H] If house builders would only follow them our eyes and taste would not be so tried now-a-days by the ginger-bready piles of red and green peaks and towers and balconies and turrets and cupolas that are called houses; houses that are built for style, and not for fitness. It is a pity that a few sensible ideas about house building can not be put into our heads until we shall build a little nearer Mr. Bunce’s ideal, houses whose foundations are deep, and whose walls will stand through many generations to come, built for happiness and not to look at. He does not try to set forth cheap devices by which “inferior things are made to put on the seeming of better things,” nor to show how a house can be made pretentious by means of shams, but “how it can be made beautiful by choosing and combining intelligently.” “My theme is art, and not trickery; my design is to show how to bring about good results by right methods, not how to cover up paltry objects by false devices.”

A book giving much needed and valuable information respecting the false systems of religion, has been lately issued, by Messrs. Phillips & Hunt.[I] It is a book for the times, and published for a purpose worthy of the source whence it comes. It contains nine distinct essays, by as many Christian scholars, well fitted for the work undertaken; beside their eminent ability they have severally been in circumstances most favorable to a thorough understanding of the subjects discussed. The thoughtful reader will discover in them sufficient grounds for the faith indicated by the title, “Doomed Religions,” and that the false systems that have for ages enthralled the race give evidence of decay.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

“The World’s Cyclopædia and Library of Universal Knowledge.” Compiled by Professor H. L. Williams. New York: World Manufacturing Co.

“Biogen; A Speculation on the Origin and Nature of Life.” By Prof. Elliot Coues. Boston: Estes & Lauriat. 1884.

“Stories by American Authors;” volumes I. and II. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1884.

“The Last of the Luscombs;” by Helen Pearson Barnard. Boston: Congregational Sunday-School and Publishing Society.

“The Retrospect. A Poem in Four Cantos;” by John Ap Thomas Jones. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1884.

“The Opening of a Chestnut Burr.” By E. P. Roe. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.

The Riverside Literature Series: “Mabel Martin and Other Poems.” By John Greenleaf Whittier. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

[C] Life at Puget Sound, with Sketches of Travel in Washington Territory, British Columbia, Oregon and California. 1865-1881. By Caroline C. Leighton. Boston: Lee & Shepard, publishers, 1884.

[D] Wheeler’s Complete Analysis of the Bible. A Summary of Old and New Testament History. By J. T. Wheeler, F. R. G. S., Philadelphia: Thayer, Merriam & Co. 1882.

[E] The Holy Catholic Church. The Antiquity of Methodism. The Episcopal Church. By J. H. Vincent, D.D. Phillips & Hunt, New York: 1884.

[F] Leaves from the Diary of an Old Lawyer. By A. B. Richmond, Esq., Meadville, Pa. Meadville Publishing House. 1883.

[G] Bound Together: A Sheaf of Papers. By the author of “Wet Days at Edgewood,” “Reveries of a Bachelor,” etc. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1884.

[H] My House; An Ideal. By Oliver B. Bunce. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1884.

[I] Doomed Religions. A series of essays on Great Religions of the World. Edited by Rev. J. M. Reid, D.D., LL. D. New York: Phillips & Hunt. 1884.

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Transcriber’s Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Page 438, “Kineas” changed to “Cineas” throughout, to match the heading, the note, and the prior issue of THE CHAUTAUQUAN referenced in the note.

Pages 440-442, Sunday Readings: date headings changed from the dates of the Sundays in April 1884, to the dates of the Sundays in May 1884.

Page 444, “DIJCK” changed to “DYCK” (heading: ANTOON VAN DYCK)

Page 447, “phase” changed to “phrase” (a joyous phrase)

Page 450, “loses” changed to “losses” (their losses at Ticonderoga)

Page 461, “Jeussen” changed to “Jenssen” (Hans Jenssen, in far away Norway)

Page 480, “Brittanica” changed to “Britannica” (Lübke, the Britannica, and)

Page 483, “Vermamdois” changed to “Vermandois” (Hugh of Vermandois)

Page 484, “suceessful” changed to “successful” (successful or happy living)

Page 490, “Aquatania” changed to “Aquitania” (governor of Aquitania)

Page 492, “owned” changed to “owed” (whose brethren owed allegiance)

Page 494, “Perkheimer” changed to “Pirkheimer” (“Pirkheimer,” pirkˈhi-mer)

Page 494, “Francesko Spforza” changed to “Francesco Sforza” (“Francesco Sforza,” fran-chĕsˈko sfortˈsä)

Page 494, “Paola” changed to “Paolo“ (Paolo Veronese)

Page 494, “Gongaza” and pronunciation “gon-gäˈzä“ changed to “Gonzaga“ and “gon-zäˈgä” (“Vincenzo Gonzaga,” vin-senˈzo gon-zäˈgä)

Page 495, “Pescarra” changed to “Pescara” (General Pescara receiving the keys)

Page 495, “English” changed to “Indians” (as the French and Indians did)

Page 495, “Louisberg” changed to “Louisburg” (His valor at Louisburg)